Times-Picayune: Who Dat not coming to Seattle

Just when we ordered up 40s and cold rain, our guests from the Big Easy apparently have other plans.

It appears that not many local fans of the New Orleans Saints intend to travel to Seattle on Saturday for the playoff game against the Seahawks, The Times-Picayune reports.

It’s a long flight, an expensive train ride or an endless drive. That last one, the New Orleans newspaper says, would require stops in “Wichita, Denver, Salt Lake City and the wilds of northwest Oregon.”

But left unsaid, the newspaper notes, is that many Saints fans figure the game is in the bag. The team is the defending Super Bowl champions. The Seahawks collapsed into the playoffs. And there’s the no-small matter of the 34-19 whup upside the head the Saints delivered on our local heroes earlier this year.

Another factor — though less talked-about, because cockiness can come back to haunt the overconfident — is that the Saints are heavily favored and are expected to handle the Seahawks, who have the worst record of any playoff team in NFL history.

Several fans suggested Monday that money may be better spent on a higher-stakes playoff game in Atlanta or Chicago, two possible destinations.

Just to add to the good news, the paper reported that by Monday afternoon, the Saints were 10-1/2 point favorites, apparently the largest margin ever for a road team in the NFL playoffs.

On the record, the Saints aren’t taking a victory for granted.

“You can throw the records out in the playoffs,” Saints linebacker Scott Shanle told the newspaper.